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British Airways and Alaska Airlines are longtime partners, but you had to call BA to use Avios for Alaska flights.
Now that Alaska has joined OneWorld, you can finally book Alaska flights on BA.com.
Alaska flies a plethora of west coast to Hawaii routes and they’re a bargain:
You can calculate how many Avios you need for a flight with the BA Avios award chart for partner airlines that I’ve put together, as BA no longer publishes an award chart. This chart applies when booking an award on a single partner airline only. Rates are for each segment flown. You can search the distance between 2 airports on GCMap.com. For example you can see why a round-trip flight from West Palm Beach to Chicago is cheaper than a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago.
| Zone | Flight Distance | Coach | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Flights that don't touch the USA) | 1-650 | 6,000 | 12,500 | 24,000 |
| 1 (Flights to, from, or within the USA) | 1-650 | 7,500 | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| 2 | 651-1,151 | 9,000 | 16,500 | 33,000 |
| 3 | 1,152-2,000 | 11,000 | 22,000 | 44,000 |
| 4 | 2,001-3,000 | 13,000 | 38,750 | 51,500 |
| 5 | 3,001-4,000 | 20,750 | 62,000 | 82,500 |
| 6 | 4,001-5,500 | 25,750 | 77,250 | 103,000 |
| 7 | 5,501-6,500 | 31,000 | 92,750 | 123,750 |
| 8 | 6,501-7,000 | 36,250 | 108,250 | 144,250 |
| 9 | 7,001+ | 51,500 | 154,500 | 206,000 |
For example:
- A zone 1 award from Palm Springs to San Francisco would cost 7.5K Avios.
- A zone 2 award from Los Angeles to Cabo or Denver to Seattle would cost 9K Avios.
- A zone 3 award from Detroit to Seattle would cost 11K Avios.
- A zone 4 award from Seattle to Kauai, Seattle to Cancun, JFK to Los Angeles, Chicago to Anchorage, or Anchorage to Maui would cost 13K Avios.
Want to earn BA Avios?
- You can transfer AMEX or Chase points to BA at a 1:1 ratio or Marriott points to BA at a 60K:25K ratio.
- You can currently earn 50K Avios with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card. You’ll earn 50K bonus British Airways Avios for opening and spending $3,000 in 3 months. You’ll earn a companion certificate for spending $20,000 in your first 12 months. You’ll also get rebated for spending on fuel surcharges!
- You can currently earn 100K Avios with the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card. You’ll earn 50K bonus Avios for opening and spending $3,000 in 3 months. You’ll earn another 50K bonus Avios for spending an additional $17,000 in 12 months.
- You can currently earn 100K Avios with the Iberia Visa Signature® Card. You’ll earn 50K bonus Avios for opening and spending $3,000 in 3 months. You’ll earn another 50K bonus Avios for spending an additional $17,000 in 12 months.
- You can combine Avios between programs.
If you, a member in your household, or an authorized user has one of the following Chase cards, you can transfer points into miles:
- Chase Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card® Card has a limited time highest ever 80K signup bonus+$50 grocery credit, earns 2 points per dollar on dining/travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel or pay yourself back categories ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a limited time 60K signup bonus, earns 3 points per dollar on dining/travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.5 cents each for paid travel or pay yourself back categories ($550 annual fee with $300 travel credit). Read more here.
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3 points per dollar on shipping, advertising, and travel, can transfer all Chase points into miles, and points are worth at least 1.25 cents each for paid travel or pay yourself back categories ($95 annual fee). Read more here.
Chase no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require one of the cards above for points transfers include:
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card earns 5 points per dollar on cable, TV, telecom, cellular, office supply stores, and gift cards from office supply stores, plus 2 points per dollar on dining and gas ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earns 1.5 points per dollar everywhere ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
- Chase Freedom Flex has a 20K signup bonus and earns 5 points on rotating categories, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® has a 20K signup bonus and earns at least 1.5 points per dollar everywhere, 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstores ($0 annual fee). Read more here.
AMEX cards with transferable Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic include:
- AMEX Blue Business Plus
- AMEX Platinum Business
- AMEX Gold Business Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- AMEX Green Consumer Card
- AMEX Everyday Preferred Consumer Card
- AMEX Everyday Consumer Card
Marriott cards with transferable points to Virgin Atlantic include:
- Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Consumer Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express®Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card
Will you book any Alaska awards with Avios?
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9 Comments On "Alaska Awards Are Finally Bookable With Avios On BA.com"
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@Dan, I had 80k avios expire right in the beginning of corona, anyone have much luck getting anything reinstated?
Have you tried calling BA?
When I try to type in the same sample itinerary as you have above (SFO – OGG), it says “British Airways and its partners do not fly this route. Please consider alternative destinations or contact your executive club service centre”… is there a trick to this?
Correction, I’m looking for flights from SFO to HNL, but it says “British Airways and its partners do not fly this route. Please consider alternative destinations or contact your executive club service centre” — Alaska flies this route but it’s not coming up?
They don’t fly that route every day. Did you try some alternate dates?
What about using Alaska miles to book on British or American? Any good values?
That has always been possible and there are some decent values.
Any chance we would be able to transfer avios to Alaska, to book Emirates or such ??
I tried booking an Alaska flight from LAx to EWR on BA.com no availability. I called BA and they said they are having issues booking Alaska Awards and you can only start booking over the phone after April 21st. Is this correct?